Cebu town execs order candy pullout after 'poisoning'

(Updated 8:47 a.m.) Authorities in Madridejos town in Cebu province have ordered the pullout of a candy brand from China that reportedly downed as many as 37 students in a local school there Thursday. Sun.Star newspaper reported that local officials in Madridejos in Bantayan Island had coordinated with their counterparts in Bantayan town to remove the candies from local stores. A separate report on radio dzBB, however, said Friday that Madridejos Mayor Salvador dela Fuente ordered the pullout of all imported candies sold in his area. The China-made ube milk candies, bought at a local sari-sari (convenience) store, were given to Grade 4 students at a birthday party in the school. The students complained of stomachaches, vomiting and dizziness. The mother of grade four pupil Richelle Cueva, 10, reportedly bought the candies, information gathered by Sun.Star showed. The store owner in turn purchased the candies from the Carbon market in Cebu City. Cueva, a student of the San Agustin Elementary School, was celebrating her birthday when the alleged poisoning occurred. Radio dzBB reported that local health authorities were set to submit a sample of the candies to the local integrated provincial health office and the Bureau of Food and Drugs for laboratory exams. As of Friday morning, at least four of the students downed by the candy were still confined at the Bantayan District Hospital. Only last July, Philippine authorities tested White Rabbit candies from China for possible contamination of formaldehyde, a carcinogenic chemical used in enbalming cadavers. Madridejos is a fourth-class town in Cebu, with a population of 29,020 people in 5,275 households. - with a report from Sun.Star, GMANews.TV